The board of the future is not going to be the same as the boards we sit on now. Even these days the groups are no longer commonly referred to as a “Board of Directors.” As Facebook dropped the “The” a boards usefulness and value will evolve more than just a name. They will need to be dynamic cauldrons of debate with an extreme focus on bringing the best people together to create exceptional long-term value for the leaders of those companies and organizations, not just recaps of the good, the bad, and the dreams.
If you sit on a board then it is likely the following statements are common feelings you have about them.
- You receive a foot-thick set of pre-read documents and reports a week or so before the board meeting.
- The agenda is very tight measured in minutes like a day in an NFL training facility.
- The feeling that you are going to spend a day or longer with some of the brightest people you have ever met but you only really get to have deep discussions at lunch, maybe for the evening meal or possibly for an hour between agenda items.
In a world of constant change organization’s that thrive on this idea are five times more successful financially than organizations that do not accept this reality. That capacity to thrive and respond starts at the very highest levels, the company board.
Constant change is around us
To succeed in a world of ten years from now dominated by blockchain, remote work as the norm and everything starts with the digital experience and ideas like the machine economy driven by machines, these board meetings will become increasingly important front driving window activities and not rear window reflections.
Our guest today, Noah Zandan the CEO of Quantified has a simple idea his company is putting into practice with many of their clients to prepare for the future. Three slides and a clear focus on discussions around value creation only at board meetings. This will change how boards are recruited, briefed and work together.
Board meeting
· Three slides only focused on the key twelve or so KPI’s (slide one). Key items to move the company – two to three value creation areas (slide two) and the final slide is good and bad things that need to be discussed. (slide three). This is then accompanied by key P&L metrics.
· Board meetings move to 90 minutes or three hours
· Five days before the meeting these three slides get sent out to board members.
· Board meetings occur eight times a year and not quarterly or semi-annually as they are seen as ongoing groups for dialogue.
· Boards are populated by diverse thinkers and are willing to argue and debate with senior management.
Ten years from now Zandan believes boards will need to be dynamic, living engines that drive successful organizations. To do this we need to scrap much of the frameworks and thinking we now us.
Noah Zandan is the author of Insights into Influence, a bestselling book on the strategies, tactics, and secrets of world class leaders. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Quartz, Forbes, and Fortune.
